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Civil Rights

Sixty-three years ago, Volkswagen began production of a new vehicle. Officially known as the Volkswagen Type 2, or the Transporter, this new vehicle quickly picked up a number of nicknames, including the VW microbus and VW minibus.

In the U.S., the Transporter became known as the hippie van because of its popularity in the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Despite the peace-and-love karma surrounding the VW microbus, the unofficial vehicle of Woodstock stands at the center of the Chicken War that continues to this day.